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United States, Canada Agree On Driver Medical Qualifications

Jan. 5 – The United States and Canada have agreed to recognize each other’s regulations on medical qualifications for truck drivers, reports News First, the web site from the Canadian Today’s Trucking magazine.

Effective March 31, the agreement means U.S. and Canadian drivers don’t have to carry special proof of their medical fitness to drive for the other country.The two governments had agreed in principle on medical reciprocity during NAFTA negotiations back in 1995. But the final details weren’t made an issue until last fall, when the Canadian Medical Protective Assn., which insures more than 65,000 Canadian doctors, said conducting U.S. DOT medical exams would increase their risk of medical liability in the United States.